


Lady-Friend

by GodsHumbleClown



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:33:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26333443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GodsHumbleClown/pseuds/GodsHumbleClown
Summary: A canon-era one shot, in which the Manhattan Newsies find that Denton has a secret he's been keeping from them, and decide to confront him about it.
Relationships: Bryan Denton/Hannah
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20
Collections: Canon Era Newsies One Shots





	Lady-Friend

David ran down the street towards the Newsies Lodging House, staying close on Itey's heels. Les needed no urging to keep up. All the newsie had been able to breathlessly convey was that there was some kind of emergency, and Jack wanted them at the lodging house. 

Anxious thoughts raced through David's head. Was one of the boys sick? Hurt? Had something happened to do with the union? Winter was a tough time for everyone; plenty of things could go wrong. David ran as fast as his legs could go and Les could keep up with. 

Their arrival stopped just about all activity in the bustling bunk room, with the exception of Racetrack arguing with Snoddy about who stole whose socks, but even they shut up when Jack glared at them. 

"Davey!" Jack's hair was mussed and he was one of the only ones of the crowd who was more than half dressed. 

"Glad you're here! Come on, we's goin' to Denton's place." He grabbed David by the arm, all set to head out, followed by a crowd of boys in no way dressed for the weather. 

"Jack, hang on. What's happening? Is Denton okay?" 

"No, Davey, he ain't," Jack said grimly. "Denton's gone and got himself a  _ girl _ ." David stopped short. 

"You dragged me out in the middle of winter because Denton has a  _ girlfriend _ ?"

_ Obviously,  _ Jack thought to himself,  _ David doesn't understand the severity of the situation.  _

"Yeah, David. It's important. Ol' Denton  _ needs  _ us." 

And David was supposed to be the smart one. 

"Come on, fellas. Do we really need to go meddling in Denton's love life? He's a grown man, and it's none of our business." David sounded reasonable, but he clearly had no experience with girls if he thought this wasn't an absolutely critical situation. 

"'Course it's our business, Davey." Jack looked at David like he'd just suggested burning Denton's house to the ground. 

"Denton's our friend, so we gotta make sure this girl is gonna be good to him."

Blink chimed in at that. 

"Yeah, and Denton's great an all, but he don't know much about the real world. He's a writer, girls'd eat a guy like him alive."

That recieved a rumble of agreement from the rest of the newsies. 

David sighed. 

"Denton was a journalist in the war, remember? I think he can handle himself fine."

Boots, usually a voice of reason that David could count on, waved the argument off, helping Snipeshooter to pull on his mittens. 

"War ain't nothing compared to girls. Girls is  _ mean _ ."

"Yeah!" Piped up Mush. "And this girl was real pretty too! I saw 'em walkin' down the street, all out where everybody in 'Hattan could see. Ain't right! Somethin's fishy about her, I just know it."

"How do you even know they're even courting?" David asked, trailing behind the gaggle of boys in various stages of getting-dressed on their way out the door. "Maybe they're just friends."

"They was holdin' hands!" Mush exclaimed. "Ain't nobody that holds hands with just friends!"

Skittery scooped Tumbler onto his shoulders as they made their way onto the street. 

"Hurry up, fellas. We don't have time to waste."

David sighed and let the wave of rowdy boys carry him along the snowy street to disrupt Denton's evening. 

\-------

Soon enough, the entire newsie population of Manhattan, (plus a few from other borough's who had also latched on to Denton) were clustered in the hallway outside the door of Denton's little apartment. 

Jack, of course, was the one to knock, as David considered grabbing Les and running away as fast as they could. 

Unfortunately, Denton answered the door before he had time to escape. 

"Boys, what are you doing here?" 

The man looked confused, but not angry, or even really surprised, which made David wonder exactly  _ how often _ large groups of children showed up at his home. 

"We's here 'cause of your lady-friend," Snipeshooter declared, more confident than David could ever imagine being while standing in someone else's front door completely uninvited. 

  
  


"Bryan, who is that?" A distinctly female voice called from inside, and immediately a wave of newsies forced their way into the little house. 

David gave Denton the most apologetic look he could manage before getting dragged inside by Jack. 

A woman in a smart blue dress, with red hair in a neat, professional updo sat in one of Denton's chairs. 

Quite a looker, the boys had to admit. But was she good enough for their Denton?

Quickly the newsies got settled, on chairs, the table, the rug, anywhere they could recline or perch or sit. 

Everyone turned to Denton expectantly, waiting for him to spill. 

Denton sighed, pressing his hands against his temples. 

"Boys, this is Hannah. Hannah, these are my good friends, the newsies of Manhattan."

Hannah was greeted by a chorus of hello's, to which she responded with a charming smile. 

"Hello, boys. Nice to meet you, I've heard about you, and Bryan's told me so much more."

"Was they good things?" Tumbler chirped from his place on Skittery's lap. 

Hannah laughed, a loud and real kind of laugh, and assured the boy, "All good things."

"Well we ain't heard nothing about you," accused Blink. He wasn't about to just trust some lady to be good to their best adult friend. No way.

"I'm not surprised," Hannah said, sneaking a glance at Denton. 

Suspicious, every newsie silently agreed. 

"You see, it was important I be kept a secret, or I wouldn't have been able to help you with your strike."

_ That _ got everybody's attention. Everybody had a question, and they all wanted to ask it  _ right now _ .

Luckily, the majority of the questions were the exact same. 

_ What was she talking about, helping them? _

Denton was happy to explain, if only to stop the uproar that was frankly giving him a headache. 

"Hannah works for The World," he began. 

That once again began a riot in Denton's apartment, one that most likely would make the downstairs neighbors very unhappy. 

"Hey!" He waved his arms, trying to calm everyone down and end the cries of "traitor" and "backstabber".

"Boys, it's not like that. Hannah was on  _ our _ side."

Thankfully, Jack managed to quiet the boys down by yelling louder than anybody else, and they all sat back down to listen. 

Hannah smiled patiently, and Denton was reminded of exactly why he cared for her so much. 

"I suppose you'd call me a double-agent. I passed Bryan as much information as I could from Mr. Pulitzer. I'm his secretary, you see." 

"You were a spy?" Shouted Les, excited. 

Hannah smiled. 

"Of sorts. I only wish I could have done more to help."

The boys, having immediately abandoned all thoughts that Hannah might ever have been deplorable, were quick to assure her that they appreciated anything and everything she had done, "even if they had no idea she'd even done it."

Denton breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know what he would have done if the boys didn't approve of Hannah. They could be… a lot, and he wouldn't be able to handle their wrath, seeing as those boys had quite literally taken down The World because they were angry. 

Thus why he had at first kept their relationship a bit under wraps, hoping to wait for a better moment to introduce her. 

Though maybe Mush's discovery was a good enough way for the introduction to happen. 

The boys certainly seemed to have taken to Hannah, piling around her to hear gossip about Pulitzer's life outside of the public eye. 

He'd have to figure out some way of feeding them all, Denton realized. Luckily he'd gotten food today, but even a week's worth of food for one man wasn't much for such a large group of growing boys. 

Denton ran a hand through his hair. Well, at least the newsies weren't known for being picky eaters. 

  
  



End file.
